What is Your Part in the End-Time Harvest?
Kim Ellison ministering to children in Kenya.
By Kim Ellison
One day I was pondering some things the Lord had shown me and the call of God on my life. I was fearful that God’s call might be too difficult and I would not be able to complete the work He was asking me to do. The task seemed too great and beyond what I was capable of. It was then that God spoke to my thoughts and gave me this vision and teaching about the Harvest. Let me share it with you.
God called me by name and said “Kim, you know about harvest time. I have trained you even as a small child for the harvest.” I then saw a vision of myself as a little girl sitting outside of my grandmother’s house in LeSueur, Minnesota. I was shelling peas and eating them out of the pods. They were so good and I loved to nibble on the raw peas. There was no lack of them, for my grandfather was a truck driver for the Green Giant Company. When he came home at night, I would run to meet him and grab the left-over pea vines that dangled from the truck bed.
Harvest time was more than busy and a great number of the town’s people worked for the Green Giant Company, either at the factory or in the fields. Grandpa drove the harvest from the fields to the plant, making several trips each day. At times, he and the others worked all night before going home to sleep. They would catch a nap here or there in the truck, as there wasn’t time to go home. When the harvest was ripe it had to be brought in or the vegetables would rot in the fields.
Bringing Dinner to the Workers
Next, I saw myself bringing dinner out to the fields with my grandmother. We did this often during the harvest. Sometimes I would get a chance to ride in the truck with Grandpa for awhile. I thought this was great fun. The combine would drive along side of us, filling up the bed of the truck with corn or whatever vegetables they were harvesting that day. Back at the factory people were diligently working, cleaning up and preparing the vegetables for sale. It was not uncommon for the plant to run 24 hours a day for weeks at a time. Daily, the local radio station would announce what time each shift was to report to work. Bringing in the harvest was a huge undertaking and the people worked hard, fully engaged in the process.
The Lord used my childhood memories, as a visual illustration, to speak to me about the latter-day harvest of souls. God showed me that the evangelists and their helpers can be likened to the field workers who harvest the peas and corn. Just as grandpa brought the vegetables to the plant to be cleaned up and prepared for sale, the evangelist brings the lost souls to the church to be cleaned up and prepared for service unto the Lord.
Cleaning Up the Crop
The plant supervisors and foremen can be likened to the pastors and the elders of the local church. The plant workers represent the ministry of helps. It is important to note that there were many, many plant workers in this vision and without them the factory could not function. Again, I said without them the plant could not function. Likewise, the church cannot function successfully without the ministry of helps.
It is not possible, nor God’s plan, for the pastors and the elders to do all the work of the church. It is time for the congregation to take their place in the ministry of helps and recognize its importance for the success of the latter-day harvest. Too much emphasis has been placed on the five-fold ministries. The church body sometimes views the ministry of helps as non important or of lesser value then some of the five-fold ministries. This is wrong thinking, and it is important to note that the greater part of the Body of Christ is functioning in the ministry of helps. If God did not view this ministry as having significant value, then the majority of the Church would not be assigned to it. God does not waste his people’s time in busy work or things not important to the increase of His Kingdom.
The Lord showed me that one evangelist can bring in many souls (Dr. Billy Graham is a good example), but it will take a lot of dedicated workers at the church to clean up, care for, and prepare the new believer’s for God’s service. They will need the tender loving care of the church, and this is where the ministry of helps comes into play. The latter-day harvest is going to be huge, and we must get ready!
When the Harvest is Ready, the Crop Must Come In
The Lord spoke to me and said “Kim, there is only so much time for the harvest, and then the harvest time is over. When the harvest is ready, it must be brought in or it will rot in the fields and be good for nothing.” I began to cry, because God was no longer talking about peas and corn, but the lost souls of men and women. God was talking about people who desperately need to know Jesus or they will be lost for all of eternity. The harvest time is upon us. We must be a prepared people who are ready for this great, great harvest of souls. It is of the utmost importance that we take our position in God’s end-time army and be ready and willing to do the work of the Kingdom.
Last, but not least, the Lord showed me that when we go out to the nations and minister with the national pastors, it was like bringing dinner to the fields. When they allow us to get up and preach along side of them, it was like getting to ride in grandpa’s truck for awhile. The Lord said “Kim, you are still bringing dinner to the fields.” Hallelujah!
I am but a simple field hand for the Lord, doing what I can to bring in the harvest. What a privilege to serve God in this capacity. No matter our position, it is important that we recognize that the harvest time is upon us, it is a very busy time, and we all have a job to do. And, it is important that we do it.
Proverbs 10:5 (NKJV) He who gathers in summer is a wise son; He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.
Proverbs 11: 30 (NKJV) The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.
John 4:35b (NKJV) Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!
Matthew 9:37-38 (NKJV) Then He (Jesus) said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
Romans 10:14 (NKJV) How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
Will you go? Who will go out into my harvest fields, asks the Lord?